Data Appendix to Investing in Children

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This appendix accompanies the report "Investing in Children," which was also used as the basis for the issue brief "Losing Ground: Federal Investments in Children Will Shrink Over the Next Decade if Present Policies Continue."

Abstract

"Investing in Children" tracks trends in federal investment from 1965 to 2017 for children as compared against the nation as a whole. This appendix details our data sources, the programs we include, and the methodology used to estimate the percentage of all expenditures that went to children.

Introduction

Much of the work and methodology in this data appendix draws from similar work from "Data Appendix to Kids Share 2007," which in turn updates and expands the appendix created by Rebecca L. Clark, Rosalind Berkowitz King, Christopher Spiro, and C. Eugene Steuerle in support of "Federal Expenditures on Children: 1960–1997," Assessing the New Federalism Occasional Paper 45 published by the Urban Institute, 2000.

"Investing in Children" tracks trends in total federal investment from 1965 through 2017, with a specific focus on investments in children. The primary data source used is the Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2008 and past years dating back to 1965. For most federal investment programs—and the 70 or so major children's investment programs—examined, expenditure data are taken from the budget for the second fiscal year after the desired year to get an "actual" expenditure amount rather than an estimate—e.g., using the FY 2008 budget to get the actual expenditure for 2006—because the budget for a given year includes estimates for that year and the previous year and actual data for earlier years. We draw heavily from the Appendix to the Federal Budget, one of the annual budget volumes, for expenditure data for individual programs; Historical Tables to the Federal Budget, another such publication, for historical time series on investment expenditure data; and Analytical Perspectives, the final such publication, for more detailed composition of investment expenditures. In most cases, the budget provides outlays for individual investment programs. In cases where a single investment outlay figure is given for a group of programs of interest, we assumed that the relationship between these outlays (the amount spent) and obligations (the amount appropriated) is the same for all programs within a group: the obligation figure for the individual program was multiplied by the total investment outlay figure for the group and then divided by the total obligation figure¹.We also had to look elsewhere when a program was not broken out as a line-item that year but was lumped in with other programs.

Alternative sources for historical data on investment expenditures, programmatic scope, and beneficiaries served included the "Green Book," published every few years by the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, and the Annual Statistical Supplement to the Social Security Bulletin, published by the Social Security Administration. When multipliers (used to estimate the percentage of all expenditures that went to children) were necessary, information on recipients usually came from the Green Book or the Annual Statistical Supplement to the Social Security Bulletin.

When even these sources did not provide sufficient information, we contacted the federal agencies that administered the programs in question. The Annual Statistical Supplement to the Social Security Bulletin provides the names of contacts, as does Serving America's Youth: A Directory of HHS Programs, published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). We also used the federal yellow pages and contacts from within the Urban Institute. Expenditure and multiplier data for some programs, such as Medicaid, were provided by Urban Institute staff who are experts on these programs.

¹ This method is difficult when monies were carried over from previous years and were included in the program group totals. In these cases, we attempted to find expenditure information elsewhere.

(End of excerpt. The entire appendix is available in PDF format.)

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

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